“Stuart and I can both testify to it,” I finally add.

“Let’s put a pin in the idea of your testifying for the moment. Stuart will be enough to get us closer to reasonable doubt. Who can support that your phone wasn’t passcode protected?”

He means other than me, another indication that he’s not so much putting a pin in the discussion regarding my taking the stand as tabling it indefinitely.

“Stuart,” I say, because he’ll be my stand-in on any evidence that I can’t put in myself.

“Good. Now, the last piece is about the gun. They’re going to try to link you to Papamichael, but we’re going to do our best to link him to Lauren. My guess is that, given Papamichael’s seniority, he crossed both your paths. I suspect we’ll end up fighting to a draw on which of the two of you he could have given a gun. But that’s fine by me, because they bear the burden of proof.”

“I’d be willing to testify that Lauren mentioned his name to me,” I say, trying to put my thumb on the scale so that my testimony helps my defense.

“Noted,” he says, “but it won’t help very much. The jury isn’t going to believe you just because you say so. They’re going to believe the case files.”

The primary reason LeMarcus does not want me on the stand is that the jury will think I’m lying. He doesn’t care if they reach that conclusion because I am committing perjury, or because that’s what jurors usually think when the defendant takes the stand. Either way, my testifying makes a guilty verdict that much more likely.

“So, let’s see where that leaves us,” LeMarcus asks, but I can tell it’s a rhetorical question, with that point driven home when he keeps right on talking. “The secretary testifies that on the evening Lauren Wright was murdered, her husband, Richard Trofino, entered your office and was there alone for several minutes. Your husband testifies that when you got home, you did not have your phone, and that he knew from prior experience that it was not passcode protected, because it was often handed to your son to play with. The next day you bought a new phone, and the Apple store confirms that, which further drives home that your phone was stolen the night before by Richard. And, as for the gun, Lauren Wright knew Detective Papamichael, so he must have given her his weapon some years back. Richard used it to kill her.”

LeMarcus offers me a satisfied grin. He looks exceedingly pleased with the world we have just constructed. Richard Trofino murdered his wife after sending messages on the phone he stole from me and using the Glock 19 his wife procured from Detective Papamichael. Simple.